Aaron Spelling

Recognized by "The Guinness Book of World Records" as the most prolific television producer of all time, Aaron Spelling has helped shape the medium since the 1960s and, though primarily known for escapist entertainment, has always mixed the occasional serious drama in amidst the comedies, actioners and glamour-girl shows that brought him his greatest success. He began his career as a war correspondent for Stars and Stripes during World War II but switched from journalism to drama after leaving the service, directing productions before scripting his first play, "Thorns in the Road". The first playwright since Eugene O'Neill to twice receive the prestigious Harvard Award for the best original one-act play, Spelling made his initial foray into Hollywood as an actor, working in modest action and mystery pictures (e.g., "Black Widow" 1954, "Wyoming Renegades" 1954, "Target Zero" 1955) before becoming a producer at Four Star Television, where he worked with Dick Powell producing episodes of "Zane Grey Theatre" (CBS) and "The Dick Powell Show" (NBC).

Spelling received screenplay credit for two 1960 features, "Guns of the Timberland" (which he also produced) and "One Foot in Hell", but by then he had already created his first TV series, the Western "Johnny Ringo" (CBS, 1959-60) and was concentrating primarily on the small screen. Though his early efforts were generally modest and only moderately successful (i.e., "The Lloyd Bridges Show" CBS, 1962-63; "Burke's Law" ABC, 1963-66), he began by the mid-60s to parlay his genuine gift for responding to the television tastes of America into several highly successful programs, one of the earliest, "Daniel Boone" (NBC, 1964-70), coming before he embarked on his long exclusive association with ABC. A stint as one of the directors of the first, less controversial "The Smothers Brothers Show" (CBS, 1965-66) and later producer duties on "The Mod Squad" (ABC, 1968-73) revealed Spelling's canny interest in programming for younger audiences, who had become an important part of the television market.

An incredibly energetic and prolific producer, Spelling also shepherded a large number of the then-new "made for TV" movies ABC aired. In 1970 alone he produced such lightweight fare as "The Love War", "The House That Would Not Die", "But I Don't Want to Get Married", "The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again" and "Wild Women", not to mention co-writing (as well as producing) the more substantial "Carter's Army", about a redneck Army captain commanding an all-black rear-echelon service company during the Civil War. Key working relationships with Danny Thomas and later Leonard Goldberg and Douglas S Cramer only increased Spelling's output and widened the sphere of his influence. Despite the variety of the programming he created, however, his most popular work during the 70s was in crime drama: "The Rookies" (1972-76), "Starsky and Hutch" (1975-79), "S.W.A.T." (1975-77) and "Vegas" (1978-81). The most notable exception was his warm, low-key drama series, "Family" (1976-80), which earned him three Emmy nominations.

The durability and success of such late 70s series as the tongue-in-cheek sleuther, "Hart to Hart" (1979-1984), the live-your-dreams anthology, "Fantasy Island" (1978-84), the cruise-with-famous guest stars perennial, "Love Boat" (1977-1986) and the detective-diva display hour, "Charlie's Angels" (1976-81) seemed to signal a switch for Spelling from the car chase to the drawing room. This was more than confirmed by "Hotel" (1983-88) and especially by the long-running "Dynasty" (1981-89). His penchant for fluff also permeated such Spelling-produced TV-movies as "The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch" (1982) and "The Making of a Male Model" (1983). Critics of the period who began reading Spelling's shows as emblematic of the Reagan years were actually missing the fact that his many hit programs had reflected (and also refracted) American social mores all along. Yet despite his many triumphs, the cancellation of "Dynasty" left him dangerously close to being passe.

Hoisting the banner of the new Fox network, Spelling roared back into the winner's circle with the teen trauma series "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990-2000), featuring his daughter Tori, which was followed with another Fox hit, "Melrose Place" (1992-99). At the same time, he was winning Emmy Awards for such prestige efforts as "Day One" (CBS, 1989), a three-hour movie about the building of the atomic bomb, and HBO's "And the Band Played On" (1993), based on Randy Shilts' best-selling expose on how the medical, political and social establishments dealt with the AIDS crisis. To his credit, the socially-responsible impulse had been in his work all along, evidenced by such TV-movies as the based-on-fact "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" (1976) and the drama examining eating disorders among female teenagers, "The Best Little Girl in the World" (1981), and would surface in a series for another fledgling network (The WB) "7th Heaven" (1996- ), a show about a functional family, which Spelling ranks as one of the most satisfying projects he has ever produced. Despite his fair share of misfires, Spelling has had a remarkable track record of popular success, offering entertainment to a wide variety of watchers for nearly four decades.

• Born:
  April 22, 1923 in Dallas, Texas
• Died:
  June 23, 2006.
• Job Titles:
  Producer, Screenwriter, Actor, Director, Playwright, Roadie for a band, Talent scout

Family

• Brother: Daniel Spelling.
• Brother: Max Spelling.
• Brother: Sam Spelling.
• Daughter: Victoria Davey Spelling. born on May 16, 1973; co-star of father's "Beverly Hills, 90210"; claimed to have auditioned for the show without her father's knowledge; supposedly nicknamed 'Tori' at suggestion of Barbara Stanwyck
• Father: David Spelling. worked for Sears
• Mother: Pearl Spelling.
• Sister: Becky Spelling.
• Son: Randall Gene Spelling. born on October 9, 1976; made TV acting debut in NBC pilot "Malibu Shores" (1995) produced by his father; later appeared on father's soap "Sunset Beach"

Education

• Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, journalism, 1949

Milestones

• 1942 Served in US Air Force; worked as a correspondent for STARS AND STRIPES; wounded by sniper's bullet in left hand and knee
• 1953 Acted in first feature, "Vicki"
• 1956 Sold his first script to Dick Powell's "Zane Grey Theater"
• 1957 Became producer at Four Star
• 1960 Produced first feature, "Guns of the Timberland"; also scripted
• 1961 Produced the episode of "The Dick Powell Show" that introduced the character of Amos Burke
• 1963 Served as producer of the ABC series "Burke's Law" and its 1965-1966 revamp "Amos Burke, Secret Agent"
• 1969 TV-movie producing debut "The Ballad of Andy Crocker" (ABC)
• 1970 Received first Emmy nomination for "Mod Squad" (ABC)
• 1971 Produced over 10 made-for-TV movies for ABC
• 1976 Executive produced the acclaimed TV-movie "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" (ABC), starring John Travolta
• 1979 With Danny Thomas, was executive producer of the ABC TV-movie "The Return of the Mod Squad"
• 1981 With Cramer, was executive producer of the ABC TV-movie about anorexia "The Best Little Girl in the World", starring Jennifer Jason Leigh
• 1982 Received Emmy nomination for "Dynasty"
• 1983 Had big screen hit with "Mr. Mom"
• 1986 Executive produced a series of "Love Boat" TV-movies
• 1986 First venture into the miniseries genre "Crossings" (CBS)
• 1988 Merged company with Worldvision Enterprises into Spelling Inc.; named chairman of Spelling Inc.
• 1989 Won Emmy for the three-hour drama about the atom bomb, "Day One"; aired on CBS
• 1991 Last feature credit for eight years, "Soapdish"
• 1991 Revisited another of his successes with the miniseries "Dynasty: The Reunion" (ABC)
• 1992 Stumbled with "2000 Malibu Road", a CBS series co-executive produced with Joel Schumacher
• 1993 With E Duke Vincent, served as executive producer of the acclaimed Emmy-winning HBO movie about the AIDS crisis "And the Band Played On"
• 1994 Oversaw the syndicated efforts "Heaven Help Us" and "Robin's Hoods"
• 1996 Had surprise success with the family drama "7th Heaven" on The WB
• 1996 Served as one of the executive producers of "Malibu Shores", a short-lived NBC serial featuring son Randy
• 1996 Was one of the executive producers of the CBS miniseries "A Season in Purgatory"
• 1998 Created the WB series "Charmed" reuniting him with "90210" star Shannen Doherty; Doherty left the show in 2001
• 1998 Honored by ABC with "An All Star Party For Aaron Spelling"
• 1999 Served as an executive producer of the feature version of "The Mod Squad"; last project under the film production arm of Spelling Entertainment
• 2000 Produced the NBC fall primetime serial "Titans"
• 2004 Executive produced the short-lived WB drama "Summerland"
• Attempted to translate his primetime sopa opera success to the fledling The WB with "Savannah"
• Created first TV series, "Johnny Ringo" (CBS); also producer and writer
• Directed several plays at Playhouse and Margo Jones Theatre in Dallas, Texas, and the Players Theatre in Los Angeles
• Executive produced "The Lloyd Bridges Show" (CBS)
• Formed Torand Productions Inc.
• Fox's "Melrose Place" also proved to be a hit
• Had a hit with the ABC police drama "S.W.A.T."
• Had another success with the anthology "Hotel" (ABC)
• Had success with Cramer as executive producers of "Fantasy Island" (ABC)
• Moved into the genre of primetime soaps with "Dynasty"; one of four executive producers
• Operated (with Danny Thomas) Thomas-Spelling Productions; produced such shows as "The Danny Thomas Hour" (NBC, 1967-1968), "The Guns of Will Sonnett" (ABC, 1967-1969) and "The Mod Squad" (ABC, 1968-1973)
• Raised in Texas
• Ran into a spate of bad luck with "Models Inc." (Fox), "Madman of the People" (NBC) and "Winnetka Road" (NBC)
• Received three Emmy nominations for the drama series "Family" (ABC)
• Remake of "Burke's Law" aired on CBS
• Retemed with Goldberg as executive producer of the genial detective series "Hart to Hart", co-starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers
• Revived "The Love Boat" for UPN
• Rose to chairman and chief executive officer Aaron Spelling Productions, Inc.; took his company public in 1986
• Scored a hit with "Beverly Hills, 90210" (Fox); daughter Tori featured as one of the regulars; son Randy had recurring role
• Served as a contributing writer to the ABC police drama "The Rookies"; also was one of the executive producers
• Served as an executive producer on "T.J. Hooker"
• Served as one of the executive producers of "Charlie's Angels"; reteamed with "Rookies" star Kate Jackson
• Served as president of Aaron Spelling Productions, Inc., Los Angeles
• Ventured into daytime television with the NBC soap opera "Sunset Beach"; son Randy was featured in a regular role
• With Douglas S Cramer, executive produced the long-running anthology series "The Love Boat" (ABC)
• With Goldberg, executive produced the hit ABC cop drama "Starsky and Hutch"
• With Leonard Goldberg, formed and served as co-president of Spelling-Goldberg Productions
• Worked as one of the directors on the sitcom, "The Smothers Brothers Show" (CBS)
• Wrote his first play, "Thorns in the Road", based on his nightmarish WWII experiences; staged play with his "mail-room guys"--a group of fledgling actors who worked in the same office building as he did when he arrived in Los Angeles